Following the commercial and critical success of Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011, Rupert Wyatt was hired back to helm the sequel. However, when creative differences caused him to split, he wound up settling on an entirely different kind of movie as his follow-up.

Wyatt’s new film The Gambler is technically a remake of the 1974 drama starring James Caan, but it feels like a totally different beast. Wyatt agreed as much during my interview with him, stressing that he “didn’t set out to remake the original film.” We spoke about the messages of the movie and its surprising ending, but also about his other upcoming projects including the sci-fi series Echo Chamber and the World War I drama Birdsong. Read the /Film interview with Rupert Wyatt after the jump. Read More »

It would have been easy for Amy to get lost in The Gambler. As Mark Wahlberg‘s love interest, she’s a quiet woman among big, destructive personalities. But she’s played by Brie Larson, and that means she’s never boring. Larson exudes a wise-beyond-her-years calmness, becoming an oasis of understanding in the desert of Jim’s messed-up life.

In person, Larson seemed equally thoughtful as we discussed her latest role. She shared with me her love of mythology and Game of Thrones, her desire to direct, her fear of red shoes (it’ll make more sense in context), and next film Room. Oh, and in case you were wondering, she absolutely sounds up for tackling a big Marvel role, should it come her way. Read the full /Film interview with Brie Larson after the jump. Read More »

There’s no denying the impressive talent behind the new movie The Gambler. It is directed by Rupert Wyatt, the man behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes, directing his first film since that hit. William Monahan, the Oscar-winning writer of The Departed, scripted The Gambler based on a 1974 starring James Caan, originally written by James Toback. This time, Mark Wahlberg is the lead character, acting opposite Brie Larson, John Goodman, Michael K. Williams and Jessica Lange.

So yeah, that’s an impressive line up, would you agree? The Gambler is about a college professor (Wahlberg) with a deep-seated gambling problem who, instead of fighting his debt, seemingly has a death wish to go deeper and deeper. It opens December 25. Below, we’ll tell you more about it and premiere some brand new stills from the movie. Read More »

Has Mark Wahlberg found one of his defining roles in The Gambler? Working with director Rupert Wyatt to remake the 1974 film in which James Cann played a college professor with a big gambling addiction, Wahlberg looks more dialed-in to a role than he has in quite some time. The first red-band trailer/clip from the film was compelling, as it showed us a tense conversation between Wahlberg’s cash-poor gambler and a loan shark played by John Goodman. In this Gambler trailer, we see a lot more of the characters played by Jessica Lange, Michael K. Williams and Brie Larson, and in particular we get to see Wahlberg looking like he coolly owns this role. Read More »

This is a great first trailer for The Gambler. The film stars Mark Wahlberg as a man with a big problem, and features John Goodman as a guy who might be able to help — if he doesn’t make things a whole lot worse.

Rupert Wyatt is known by most audiences for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but he really made his name with the UK prison break film The Escapist. Now he has directed a remake of The Gambler, about a college professor whose gambling problem gets him in debt, leading to some pretty desperate choices. Going off The Gambler red-band trailer, which is rhythmic and profane and compulsively watchable, he may have done something pretty good with this remake. Read More »

The remake of The Gambler, directed by Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) was controversial early on, as original screenwriter James Toback was frankly critical of the idea of remaking the film he had based largely on his own experiences. But the team soldiered on with the new film regardless, and in Wyatt’s version of The Gambler Mark Wahlberg is a college professor with a big gambling addiction, seen above with co-star Brie Larson. A couple other photos have shown up, along with the first good information about the film. Read More »

We’ve seen almost nothing official from Terminator: Genisys at this point, but the new Terminator movie has two more siblings set to debut in 2017 and 2018. Paramount Pictures just set dates for two more Terminator sequels, inking a plan to put killer robots into theaters during three of the next four years. Read More »

Briefly: American Horror Story has put all sorts of new heat on Jessica Lange, and now after long deal talks, the veteran actress has landed a role in the remake of The Gambler. She’ll play the mother of Mark Wahlberg’s central character, but as you might expect from Lange, this won’t be some meek caregiver gig. No, the character is described as “rich and ostentatious,” so we’ll probably get to see Lange have some fun.

Wahlberg plays the character originated by James Caan in the 1974 film of the same name, a college professor with a deep gambling addiction that really screws up his life and gets him into debt with the sort of people no one wants to owe money to. Rupert Wyatt is directing from a script by William Monahan, and Brie Lawson is also in film. [Deadline]

Jason Reitman has worked with some pretty big names over the course of his career, including, most recently, Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. His next film, however, could star a near-total unknown.

The filmmaker has reportedly offered a big role in Men, Women and Children to newcomer Travis Tope. Though the 22-year-old has just one completed feature on his resume at the moment (the 2007 indie Divine Souls), he’s definitely on his way up: Tope is also considering roles in Sacha Gervasi‘s November Criminals and Rupert Wyatt‘s The Gambler. More about all three projects and their potential leading man after the jump.